Aryballos with Roosters and Rosettes

Two crudely rendered roosters with abnormally long bodies flank a vegetal ornament on the body of this aryballos. Rosettes surround the roosters. An aryballos is a Greek vase with a narrow neck that stored perfume or oil. Aryballoi were often used by athletes in the gymnasion and held oil that was used for bathing. Much of this aryballos—namely, the mouth and handle—has been restored. Black and red paint has been applied directly onto the surface, which contrasts with the places where the object’s original black glaze has been preserved.

The aryballos is in the style of pottery made in Corinth, which was a major ceramic production center during the Archaic period and created goods that were traded within Greece and around the Mediterranean. Corinthian artists and workshops innovated both technically and artistically by experimenting with black and red slips (mixtures of fine clay and water) to decorate their ceramics with their signature animal and figurative scenes. Corinthian-style pottery often employs motifs that were common in ancient West Asia, depicting real and mythological animals in registers crowded with decorative details, such as rosettes.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.